Nationally ranked squads challenge Arkansas for SEC title

OXFORD, Ms. – Two-time defending champion Arkansas aims for another SEC title in cross country this Friday on the Ole Miss Golf Course among a field that includes strong challengers for the league trophy from a pair of nationally ranked teams in Alabama and Tennessee.

“We’re not the favorite in any shape or form, but I think we have a shot at it and will give it a run,” stated Arkansas men’s head coach Chris Bucknam, who has collected 10 SEC cross country team titles with the Razorbacks.

“I do see Tennessee as the main competition, they are ranked a little higher than Alabama in the national poll, and Tennessee defeated Alabama at Notre Dame. I’d give Tennessee the nod with Alabama right there. Then I think us, and Ole Miss are chasing those two schools.”

Start time for the men’s 8,000m race is 10:50 a.m. with a live broadcast starting at 10 a.m. on the SEC Network. Live results will be available: https://live.deltatiming.com/meets/18235

There is free admission to the meet. The Ole Miss Golf Course is located at 147 Golf Club Drive in Oxford. Fan parking is located at M-Trade Park, 328 Old Sardis Road, and there will be a complimentary shuttle provided.

Over the past 31 SEC Championships held in cross country, the Razorbacks have claimed a conference record 27 titles. On the four occasions Arkansas didn’t win the team title, they finished second twice (2009, 2018) and third twice (2008, 2019).

In that span, 12 Razorbacks have won 15 individual titles, with the most recent victory claimed in 2018 by Gilbert Boit, who is a volunteer assistant with this year’s team.

“We’ve won the last six conference championships over the past two years in cross country, indoor and outdoor track,” noted Bucknam of the last pair of SEC Triple Crowns. “I don’t think this team wants to be the one that let’s go of that rope. So, I do think that is a factor.”

The top returning members of Arkansas’ squad who raced in the conference meet last season includes Jacob McLeod (5th) and Myles Richter (10th) as they were second and third among the Razorback squad.

Due to the covid year, Ryan Murphy has the rare opportunity to race in a fifth SEC Championship race in cross country. Murphy finished third among the Arkansas scoring five in 2018 and 2019, posting his best finish of ninth overall in 2018. Last fall Murphy placed 18th and was seventh among the UA crew.

Elias Schreml, who has led the Razorbacks in a pair of meets this fall, raced in the 2021 SEC meet but did not finish. This season Schreml placed third in the OSU Cowboy Preview at 5k and finished 10th in the OSU Weis-Crockett Invitational over an 8k distance (23:48.6).

“This is a five-mile race that is going to be fast since it’s on a flat course,” said Bucknam. “You can’t will yourself to win. You need talent and you need your guys dialed in. It’s not going to happen because you put the uniform on. It’s almost the opposite, you have every arrow getting slinged at you because you are Arkansas.

“I explained to my team that we are going to have to earn it by believing in yourself and knowing you can get it done. Tradition is always hanging over us and it’s a bit of motivation because our guys don’t want to let go of the rope and be that team that breaks a streak. Talent still matters and we’re going to have to utilize our talents and get after it.”

Making their debut in the 2022 SEC Cross Country Championships are Patrick Kiprop, Reuben Reina, Tommy Romanow, Ben Shearer, and Jack Williams.

“We lost four of our top five from last season due to them exhausting their eligibility,” said Bucknam. “We have a new crew, mainly with a group of redshirt freshmen.”

Kiprop, a transfer from Fresno Pacific last January, has raced twice this cross country season, leading Arkansas to a team victory as the individual runner-up (23:24.6) in the Chile Pepper Festival held at Agri Park and placing 13th as the second Razorback finisher in the Weis-Crockett meet.

During the 2022 track season Kiprop swept the SEC 5,000m titles and added a silver medal in the 10,000m.

“Patrick is a special athlete,” stated Bucknam. “He’s talented and he got off to a little bit of a slow start this fall because of a hip injury. That held back some of his training and he is catching up now. He’s a phenomenal competitor and will be in the mix.”

Ben Shearer, twice named SEC Freshman Runner of the Week this fall, has finished second and third among the UA crew in the past two meets. He produced the top pair of times by a freshman in the league this season with a 23:49.0 at Chile Pepper Festival and 24:07.5 at Oklahoma State.

“A breakthrough for us has been Elias Schreml, a sophomore who is a sub-4-minute miler,” noted Bucknam. “He really stepped up. Also, Ben Shearer, our redshirt freshman, had a nice breakthrough at Oklahoma State. He’s a really talented athlete, just trying to figure it out. He’s not there yet, but he’s learning and is a great competitor.”

Older brother Josh Shearer has made a steady progression in his previous SEC races, improving by 20 places in each of the past couple of years, starting with 75th in 2019, 56th in 2020, and 35th in 2021.

Nationally ranked programs from the league include No. 17 Tennessee and No. 22 Alabama with Arkansas receiving votes in the latest top 30 poll after being ranked each week previously.

Tennessee has claimed 25 cross country league titles, its last title coming in 1990 the year prior to the Razorbacks joining the league. Alabama has won three SEC titles in cross country, most recently in 2009 when the meet was held in Oxford.

Headlining the Alabama squad are defending SEC champion Eliud Kipsang and Victor Kiprop, who finished fourth in 2021.

The Tennessee crew is led by a pair of transfers in Dylan Jacobs, the 2022 NCAA 10,000m champion previously with Notre Dame, and Yaseen Abdalla, who competed at Texas and anchored (3:55.58, 1,600m) the Longhorns distance medley relay to a 2022 NCAA Indoor title.